When Rekha was three and her sister two, their father
became the first to leave their village in India for the land
of opportunity. He flew halfway around the world to become
a veterinarian. The little girls and their mother stayed behind
with grandparents. Three years later, their mother flew off to join
their father. The girls stayed with grandparents three more years,
getting tutored in English, until their father completed his studies.
Rekha was nine when she and her sister flew to Missouri to be greeting
by their parents, a new brother and two new sisters! Though oddities
in small-town Missouri, they were warmly welcomed in the community
and were eager to assimilate. Weekdays were for Western life, but
they spoke Hindi at home and followed Indian traditions, which included
doing homework every night around the kitchen table. Education was
everything.